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W. Va. Music Hall of Famer Nominated for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Bill Withers

“Lean on Me” singer and West Virginia native Bill Withers is among the first-time nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Six of the 15 nominees for the hall’s Class of 2015 are on the ballot for the first time. The new nominees were announced on Thursday.

Results of the voting will be announced in December, with the induction planned for next April in Cleveland.

Withers was born the youngest of six children in the small coal-mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia and raised in nearby Beckley.

He was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in 2007.  

Anna Sale conducted this interview with Bill for West Virginia Public Broadcasting in 2007.